A professor’s journey to deliver peace, aid

A professor’s journey to deliver peace, aid

Fueled by compassion and a belief that each individual can
make a difference, associate professor
Manisha Javeri has led a multi-year journey to bring peace and aid to people
around the globe.

In the last four years, Javeri has traveled from Botswana
and Mozambique to the killing fields in Cambodia, with the goal of better
understanding individuals’ plights and providing assistance where she can. As
an associate professor of instructional technology in the
Charter College of Education’s Division of Applied and Advanced Studies in
Education she has also used her class as an outlet for developing solutions,
effecting change and inspiring others to take action.

“I think that engaging in the world—helping people—is where
my heart is at,” Javeri said.

For her international work, Javeri was recently one of only
38 selected globally to be named
World Peace Fellows by the Rotary Centers for International Studies. As a
fellow, Javeri conducted field studies in Thailand and Cambodia and attended
peace and conflict resolution sessions led by esteemed professors from
throughout the world. They also visited the Ban Mai Nai Soi refugee camp in Mae
Hong Song along the Burma-Thailand border and the S-21 prison camp and the
killing fields in Cambodia.

“There are basically moments in which you’re in touch with
the meaning of life, when your relationship with the rest of the universe makes
sense, and this fellowship program in Thailand was such a moment for me,” Javeri
said of the experience. “I received this award when I was battling a major
health challenge, and it came to me at a perfect time to give me an opportunity
to shift the focus from myself and engage in the lives of others [in Cambodia
and along the Burma-Thailand border] who were suffering and in pain.”

Javeri said that following the fellowship she returned
“humbled and determined” to use her knowledge and skills in technology to design
humanitarian interventions.

In December, Javeri returned to Maputo, Mozambique to complete the final phase of a
nearly 4-year project with the installation and training on the use of solar
ovens. The solar ovens will be used to start a micro-business for women who care
for hundreds of children who have been orphaned or infected by AIDS/HIV in
surrounding villages.

Javeri’s CSULA graduate students have also been involved in
her work in Maputo over the years, designing technology-based interventions and
other distance learning tools to help educate villagers on English, computer
skills, health and even creating micro-businesses. Her students’ programs and
applications will help guide progress in the area for years to come, she said.

“I’d like to continue to involve students at CSULA to
learn to engage in global issues and to use classroom projects as platforms to
solve real-world problems like HIV/AIDS, refugee support, post-war redevelopment
and reconstruction, environmental issues and more,” Javeri said.